Compartmented carton



Nov. 17, 1964 R. J. HENNESSEY 3,

COMPARTMENTED CARTON Filed Aug. 31, 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR P1155541. 1 flf/V/VASSF/ ATTORNEY R. J- HENNESSEY COMPARTMENTED CARTON Nov. 17, 1964 4 Sheets-Sheet '2 Filed Aug. 31, 1961 INVENTOR Pusan: d. HE/VA/ESSE) ATTORNEY Nov. 17, 1964 R. J. HENNESSEY COMPARTMENTED CARTON 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 31 1961 ATTORNEY Russia .1 flaw/8.90

BY mm Nov. 17, 1964 R. .1. HENNESSEY COMPARTMENTED CARTON 4 SheetsSheet 4 Filed Aug. 31. 1961 m w a Q 2 01 F IIILIT 4 z w 7 z liLilL -Lli 3 6 l L f a Q Ii- ,7 11111 i w a w |I.I| V.|| lllllll 2 T i 0 Z w lt 5 3 a INVENTOR Russau J. f/FAM/ESSFY BY .ammg

ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,157,344 COMPARTMENTED CARTON Russell J. Hcnnessey, St. Paul, Minn, assignor to Waldorf Paper Products Company, Ramsey County, Minn, a corporation of Minnesota Filed Aug. 31, 1961, Ser. No. 135,201 4 Qlaims. (Cl. 229-27 This invention relates to an improvement in compartmented cartons and deals particularly with a simple carton construction which may include three or four compartments of the same size or of different sizes.

It has been common practice for producers of various products to package a plurality of the items in a single carton so that the customer will purchase more than a single item. For instance, certain manufacturers of soap bars have packaged individual bars of relatively high grade soap in paperboard cartons in single units. It has now been proposed that cartons be provided to package three or four bars of soap rather than a single bar. Such a procedure not only reduces the cost of packaging, but also tends to persuade the customer to buy the product in greater volume.

While simple cartons having two compartments are readily produced, cartons having three or four compartments are considerably more diflicult to make and are considerably more complicated. In cases where three compartments, for example, are to be produced, the resulting structure is very difiicult to glue so that the compartments may have rigid walls. It is an object of the present invention to provide a simple carton which may be produced in volume and which may be folded and glued to produce a carton having three compartments.

A feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a carton comprising a paperboard blank designed to form the outer walls of the carton and to attach to one of the walls of the carton a partition forming blank which is the proper size to form the necessary partitions. When this partition forming blank is adhered to the outer wall forming blank, the composite blank may be folded and glued on a regular straight line gluing machine at high speed with virtually no difiiculty.

A further feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a compartmented carton having closure flaps which are so arranged that any of the compartments may be individually opened and the contents thereof removed.

An added feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a carton which may, if desired, be formed into a carton having four compartments by employing tuck flaps on certain of the closure flaps which extend into the carton from opposite ends thereof to form the third partition wall.

These and other objects and novel features of the present invention will be more clearly and fully set forth in the following specification and claims.

In the drawings forming a part of the specification:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the closed carton.

FIGURE 2 is a view similar to FIGURE 1 showing one of the compartments after it has been opened.

FIGURE 3 is a horizontal sectional view through the carton, the position of the section being indicated by the line 33 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 4 is a diagrammatic view of the composite blank after the first folding operation.

FIGURE 5 is a diagrammatic view of the blank after the second or final folding operation.

FIGURE 6 is a diagrammatic view of the blank of which the outer portion of the carton is formed.

which the partition forming portion of the carton is formed.

FIGURE 8 is a diagrammatic view of the composite blank after the two blanks have been combined.

FIGURE 9 is a perspective view of a modified form of carton.

FIGURE 10 is a horizontal sectional view through the carton shown in FIGURE 9, the position of the section being indicated by the line Iii-10 of FIGURE 9.

FIGURE 11 is a vertical section through the carton shown in FIGURE 9, the position of the section being indicated by the line I111 of FIGURE 9.

FIGURE 12 is a view similar to FIGURE 10 but showing certain of the flaps folded in a diiferent manner.

FIGURE 13 is a diagrammatic view of the blank after the first folding operation.

FIGURE 14 is a diagrammatic view of the blank after the final folding operation.

FIGURE 15 is a diagrammatic view of the blank from which the outer portion of the carton of FIGURE 9 is formed.

FIGURE 16 is a diagrammatic view of the blank form ing the partition structure of the carton illustrated in FIGURE 9.

FIGURE 17 is a diagrammatic view of the composite blank used for forming the carton of FIGURE 9.

The carton A illustrated in FIGURES 1 through 8 of the drawings includes an outer blank 10 best illustrated in FIGURE 6 of the drawings, the partition forming blank 11 illustrated in FIGURE 7 of the drawings. The blank 10 includes an end Wall 12, a side wall 13, an end wall 14, and a side wall 15 which are foldably connected along parallel fold lines I6, 17, and 19. A glue flap 20 is hingedly connected to one wall at the end of the blank, such as the blank 12 by a fold line 21. The glue flap 2% is secured in overlapping relation to the side wall 15.

The various wall panels are connected along a fold line 2?. to bottom closing flaps. The flaps 23, 24, 25, and 26 are connected to the wall panels 12, 13, 14, and 15 respectively. The wall panels are connected along an upper fold line 27 to top closing flaps. Flaps 29, 30, 31 and 32 are connected to the upper edges of the wall panels 12, 13, I4, and 15, respectively. In the particular arrangement illustrated, the carton is to be divided into three compartments of equal size. In order to provide access to the individual cartons, weakened lines of separation 33 extend transversely across the closing flap 30 at right angles to the fold line 27, these weakened lines dividing the flap into three equal sections. The flap 32 is also provided with a pair of spaced parallel weakened lines of separation 34 which are at right angles to the fold line 27 and extend transversely across the flap 32. The perforated lines 34 divide the flap 32 into three equal sections. In the particular arrangement illustrated, the free edge of the flap 32 is notched as indicated at 35, the notches 35 having an apex on the perforated lines 34. The corners 36 of the flap 32 are also cut off diagonally so that the individual sections of the flaptmay be more readily grasped and removed. In the interests ofeconomy, the flap 36 does not extend completely across the topof the carton when closed although obviously this is a matter of choice.

The blank 11 illustrated in FIGURE 7 of the drawings includes a central panel 37 which is foldably connected along parallel fold lines 39 and 40 to partition panels 41 and 42, respectively. As the compartments are to be of equal size, the panel 37 is of a length substantially equal to one-third of the width of the panel 13. Obviously, the partition panels 41 and 42 are of a Width equal generally to the end wall panels 12 and 14. The

partition panels 41 and 42 are connected along parallel f In assembling the composite blank, the partition forming blank 11, the middle section of the side wall panel 13 is provided with areas of adhesive 47 and the panel 37 of the blank 11 is secured to the middle one third portion of the panel 13. This may be readily accomplished on what is commercially known as a window machine which is used to adhere a transparent window to a selected portion of the blank. When adhered in place, the composite blank appears as indicated in FIGURE 8 of the drawings with the partition panel 41 and glue flap 45 overlying one side of the panel 13 and a portion of the end panel 12, and with the partition panel 42 and glue flap 46 overlying the remaining portion of the Wall panel 13 and a portion of the end panel 14. In the form illustrated in FIGURE 8, the blank is in readiness to be glued into tubular form.

In folding the carton into tubular form, the wall panel 12 of the outer blank 10' is folded along the fold line 16 to overlie a portion of the side wall panel 13. In view of the fact that substantially more than one-half of the partition panel 41 and glue flap 45 are overlying the panel 12, the hinging of the end wall 12 also acts to hinge the panel 41 and glue flap 45 about the fold line 39. When this first fold is complete, the blank appears as indicated in FIGURE 4 of the drawings.

At this stage of the operation, a strip of adhesive 49 is applied to the inner surface of the side wall 15, this strip of adhesive being in the first one-third of the area of the panel 15 from the fold line 15. This area of adhesive is designed to adhere the side wall 15 to the glue flap 46 on one partition wall 42. At the same time, a second area of adhesive 50 is applied to the inner surface of the side wall panel 15, this area 50 being positioned in the center one-third of the panel 15 and being arranged to adhere the panel 15 to the glue flap 45 on the second partition panel 41.

A third area of adhesive 51 is provided on the outer one-third of the side wall panel 15, the area 51 being arranged to adhere the side wall panel 15 to the glue fiap 2t) hingedly connected to the end wall of the outer carton blank 10. While the areas of adhesive are described as being applied to the side wall panel 15, it is obvious they can similarly be applied to the glue flaps 20, 45, and 46.

The outer carton blank is next folded along the fold line 19 into the position indicated in FIGURE 5 of the drawings. Pressure is applied, and the side wall 15 is securely anchored to the flaps 45 and 46 of the partition walls and the glue flap 20 of the outer blank.

When the carton A is opened up into rectangular form, the partitions 41 and 42 extend at right angles to the side walls 13 and 15 of the carton and parallel to the end walls 12 and 14 thereof, as is best illustrated in FIGURE 3 of the drawings. When opened, the carton is provided with three compartments which in the particular form illustrated are of equal size. Obviously, however, the partitions may vary in size if the goods which are to be contained are not uniform in size.

The lower closing flaps of the carton are closed and the carton is filled with the product. The remaining ciosing flaps may then be secured in closed position in the usual manner, the flaps 29 and 31 being folded into a common plane, and in the flaps and 32 being folded to overlie the first folded flaps. When closed, the carton appears as indicated in FIGURE 1 of the drawings.

When it is desired to remove a portion of the contents, any of the sections of the panel 32 may be manually engaged and pulled upwardly. Preferably, the free edge of the closing flap 32 is not adhered to the underlying panel so that any of the individual sections of the flap 32 may be pulled upwardly, the paper bord ripping along one or both of the perforated lines. FIGURE 2 of the drawings shows the carton with the center compartment open for removal of the contents. a

The carton B is very similar in form to the carton A, but has been disclosed to show the manner in which the size of the compartments may be varied, or the carton may be divided into four compartments. The carton B is formed of an outer carton blank 53 and a partition forming blank 54. The blank 53 includes an end wall 55, a side wall 56, an end wall 57, and a side wall 59, these walls being connected along parallel fold lines 60, 61, and 62. A glue flap 63 is foldably connected to the end panel 55 along a fold line 64, and this glue flap is later secured in overlapping relation to the side wall panel 59.

The various wall panels are foldably connected along a fold line 65 to bottom closing flaps. The flaps 66, 67, 69, and '76 are foldably connected to the wals 55, 56, 57, and 59 respectively. A closing fiap extension 71 is foldably connected to the closing flaps 69 along a fold line 72 which is parallel to the fold line 55 and is spaced therefrom a distance, in the form illustrated, of onefourth the width of the side walls 56 and 59. The purpose of this arrangement will be later described.

The upper edges of the side walls are connected along a fold line 73 to top flaps, the flaps '74, 75, 76 and 77 being hinged to the side walls 55, 5-5, 57 and 59 respectively. weakened lines of separation 79 extend across the flaps at right angles to the fold line 73, these perforated lines, in the construction illustrated, dividing the flap 75 into four equal sections. In a similar way, weakened lines of separation 39 extend across the top flap 77 at right angles to the fold line 73, these weakened lines dividing the top flap 77 into four equal sections. The free edge of the flap 77 is notched as in the previous constructions to facilitate grasping the ends of the four sections defined by the weakened lines.

The partition forming blank 54 is identical to the blank 11 previously described, including an anchoring panel 81, partition panels 82 and 83 on opposite sides of the anchoring panel 81, and glue fiaps 84 and 85 are hingedly connected to the partition flaps 83 and 82. The hinge lines connecting the various panels are parallel. In the arrangement illustrated, the anchoring panel 81 is of substantially equal width to one-fourth of the width of the side \valts 56 and 59, while the partition flaps 82 and 83 are substantially equal to the width of the end walls 55 and 57.

The anchoring panel 81 of the blank 54 is adhered to an area of the Side wall 56 which is defined by the broken lines 68 in FIGURE 15, and which is an area of approximately one-quarter of the panel 56 and spaced from the fold lines 66 a quarter of the distance across the panel. When the two blanks have been combined they appear as is best indicated in FIGURE 17 of the drawings.

T 0 complete the construction, the end wall panel 55 is folded about the fold line 60, this operation acting, in the manner previously described, to fold the partition panel 82 and glue flap 35 to overlie the adjoining portion of the blank 54. When in this position, the blank appears as indicated in FIGURE 13. Areas of adhesive 89, 90, and 91 are applied to the inner surface of the side wall panel 59, these areas being so positioned as to engage the glue flap 84, the glue fiap 85, and the glue flap 63, respectively. When the panel 59 is folded along the fold line 62 to overlie the remainder of the blank, the blank appears as is indicated in FIGURE 14 of the drawings.

As has been described, the bottom closing flap 69 is provided with an extension 71. The top closing flap 76 is likewise provided with a flap extension 92 which is foldably connected thereto along a fold line 93 which is spaced from the fold line 73 a distance equal to onefourth the width of the side wall panels 56 and 59.

When the carton is folded into rectangular form as indicated in FIGURE 10 of the drawings, the partition panels 82 and 83 extend across the carton, these partition panels dividing the carton across the center and across the blank midway between the center and the end wall 55. If a fourth partition is desired, this is formed by bending the closing fiap extensions 71 and 92 upwardly and downwardly respectively in a common plane, the extensions thus dividing the area within the carton into four equal sections. If a large section and two smaller sections are desired, the glue flap extensions 71 and 92 may either be eliminated or may remain in the plane of the closing flaps 69 and '76, respectively.

In accordance with the patent statutes, I have described the principles of construction and operation of my improvement in Compartmented Cartons, and While I have endeavored to set forth the best embodiment thereof, I desire to have it understood that changes may be made within the scope of the following claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. A foldable partitioned rectangular carton including alternate side and end walls hingedly connected along parallel fold lines, closing flaps hingedly connected to the upper and lower ends of said side and end walls, a separate auxiliary Web having an intermediate panel secured to one side wall at some area parallel to the end edges of the side Wall and intermediate the end walls to overlie the center portion of said one side wall, partition panels foldably connected to opposite edges of said intermediate panel along parallel fold lines, said partition panels being substantially equal in width to said end walls and greater in width than the distance between one of said edges and the nearest of said fold lines, anchoring flaps hinged to said partition panels along fold lines substantially parallel to the previously described fold lines, said anchoring flaps being secured in face con-tact with the other side wall and both said anchoring flaps extending from said partition panels toward the same one of said end walls, and means securing said side and end walls in tubular relation, said closing flaps secured to said side walls including transverse weakened lines of separation which terminate adjacent to the adjacent ends of the partition panels when the carton is closed.

2. A foldable partitioned rectangular carton including alternate side and end walls hingedly connected along parallel fold lines, closing flaps hingedly connected to the upper and lower ends of said side and end walls, a separate auxiliary web having an intermediate panel secured to one side wall at some point intermediate the end walls, partition panels foldably connected to opposite edges of said intermediate panel along parallel fold lines, said partition panels being substantially equal in width to said end Walls, anchoring flaps hinged to said partition panels along fold lines substantially parallel to the previously described fold lines, said anchoring flaps being secured in face contact with the other side wall and both said anchoring flaps extending from their partition walls toward the same one of said end walls, and means securing said side and end walls in tubular relation, said intermediate panel being secured to said one side wall on an area nearer one end wall than to the other, the width of said partition panels being greater than the distance from the said one end wall to the nearest edge of said intermediate panel, the closing flaps hinged to said other end wall having partition flap extensions foldably connected to the free ends thereof and foldable into parallel relation to said partition panels when said wall panels are rectangularly arranged.

3. A compound fiat blank for use in forming a partitioned carton, the blank including a body sheet creased along parallel fold lines to include in series, a first end wall, a first side wall, a second end wall, and a second side Wall, a glue flap hinged to a wall at one end of said series, a partition forming sheet including in series a first anchoring flap, a first partition panel, an intermediate panel, a second partition panel, and a second anchoring flap, said anchoring flaps and panels being connected along parallel fold lines and said partition panels being substantially equal in width to said end walls, means securing said partition forming sheet in face contact to said body sheet with said intermediate panel secured to said first side wall with its edges parallel to, and spaced from, the edges of said first side wall, the partition panels and anchoring flaps being free of attachment to said body sheet, and said first anchoring flap and a portion of said first partition panel overlying said first end wall.

4. A compound partially folded blank for use in forming a partitioned carton, the blank including a body sheet creased along parallel fold lines to include, in series, a first end wall, a first side wall, a second end wall, and a second side wall, a glue flap hinged to a wall at one end of said series, a partition forming sheet including in series a first anchoring flap, a first partition panel, an intermediate panel, a second partition panel, and a second anchoring flap, said anchoring flaps and panels being connected along parallel fold lines and said partition panels being substantially equal in Width to said end Walls, means securing said intermediate panel in face contact with said first side wall with its hinged edges parallel to, and spaced inwardly from, the edges of said first side wall, said first anchoring flap and first partition panel being folded to overlie the intermediate panel and a portion of said second partition panel, and said first end wall being folded to overlie a portion of said first partition wall, said anchoring flaps both being exposed, whereby upon the folding of the second side wall over said second end wall, said second side wall may be adhered to both said anchoring flaps and said glue flap may connect said first end wall to said second side wall.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 683,789 Parmenter Oct. 1, 1901 1,112,752 Avellanal Oct. 6, 1914 2,188,732 Vogt Jan. 30, 1940 2,525,686 Kowal Oct. 10, 1950 2,678,724 Andriot Mar. 18, 1954 

1. A FOLDABLE PARTITIONED RECTANGULAR CARTON INCLUDING ALTERNATE SIDE AND END WALLS HINGEDLY CONNECTED ALONG PARALLEL FOLD LINES, CLOSING FLAPS HINGEDLY CONNECTED TO THE UPPER AND LOWER ENDS OF SAID SIDE AND END WALLS, A SEPARATE AUXILIARY WEB HAVING AN INTERMEDIATE PANEL SECURED TO ONE SIDE WALL AT SOME AREA PARALLEL TO THE END EDGES OF THE SIDE WALL AND INTERMEDIATE THE END WALLS TO OVERLIE THE CENTER PORTION OF SAID ONE SIDE WALL, PARTITION PANELS FOLDABLY CONNECTED TO OPPOSITE EDGES OF SAID INTERMEDIATE PANEL ALONG PARALLEL FOLD LINES, SAID PARTITION PANELS BEING SUBSTANTIALLY EQUAL IN WIDTH TO SAID END WALLS AND GREATER IN WIDTH THAN THE DISTANCE BETWEEN ONE OF SAID EDGES AND THE NEAREST OF SAID FOLD LINES, ANCHORING FLAPS HINGED TO SAID PARTITION PANELS ALONG FOLD LINES SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO THE PREVIOUSLY DESCRIBED FOLD LINES, SAID ANCHORING FLAPS BEING SECURED IN FACE CONTACT WITH THE OTHER SIDE WALL AND BOTH SAID ANCHORING FLAPS EXTENDING FROM SAID PARTITION PANELS TOWARD THE SAME ONE OF SAID END WALLS, AND MEANS SECURING SAID SIDE AND END WALLS IN TUBULAR RELATION, SAID CLOSING FLAPS SECURED TO SAID SIDE WALLS INCLUDING TRANSVERSE WEAKENED LINES OF SEPARATION WHICH TERMINATE ADJACENT TO THE ADJACENT ENDS OF THE PARTITION PANELS WHEN THE CARTON IS CLOSED. 